


New Kid on The Boardwalk

by KaiyaWolf



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:36:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21590851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaiyaWolf/pseuds/KaiyaWolf
Summary: So I got inspired to do a Human Spinel Au so this first chapter is mostly her introduction to all of you and to Steven.
Relationships: Spinel/Steven Universe
Comments: 41
Kudos: 198





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay okay so for anyone who is following my others stories I can't help write when and Idea goes off in my head so yes this is going to be yet another ongoing work of mine. I'm still working on my others so don't fret. For any who are new to my work... Welcome! please get comfy and have a good read. 
> 
> Also I can't take full credit I was inspired by a lot of amazing Human Spinel art work but I'm not given enough characters to list everyone so I'll list my favorite artist to inspire me. @Sm0lSuccubus

“Name: Spinel Heartstring  
Age: 16”

“Soon to be 17!”

“Years in System: 6  
Age Put into System: 11  
Number of Homes: 9  
Arrests: 10  
Reasons: Fighting 3,”

“They deserved it.”

“Underage smoking 2, Vandalism 1,”

“I was just trying to make the wall look betta.” 

“Indecent exposure 1,”

“I was drunk come on.”

“And obviously underage drinking 3.” The woman who’d been talking sighed heavily.

“Spinel you have at least another year of being in the system, and it’s getting harder and harder to even find a home that’ll take you. So this is your last chance. I found a nice couple who is willing to take you in until you reach 18.” Spinel picked her teeth completely uninterested at what her case worker was saying.

“Spinel! Look if you screw this one up that’s it. I’ll let you rot in juvie until you’re 18!” Spinel looked away from her case worker not being able to meet her eyes. She sighed again setting Spinel's paperwork down. 

"Look I know it sucks and all but please. You're a bright kid with good grades despite everything else you do care about becoming something right? So please keep out of trouble for this last stretch and I'll make a call to my friend to help you get into art school." Spinel glanced at her in disbelief but saw no trace of dishonesty in her eyes. 

"Fine. Where am I heading to this time?" Her case worker smiled and shuffled her papers finding the one she needed. 

"It's a small town in Delmarva called Beach City."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spinel climbed off the bus, pulled her garbage bag filled with her life out of the bottom compartment, and stood there staring at the large wooden sign reading Beach City population 15+. Spinel sighed,  
*Okay this wasn’t so bad. Small but cute. Next to a beach maybe I can learn to surf while I’m here.*  
She tried to think optimistically but honestly she had her doubts that this place would any better than her last 9 homes. She reluctantly made her way into the town throwing her skateboard down and riding past all of the people. She glanced down at the map she’d been given, she really didn’t feel like going there yet. That’s when she saw it, as she passed a hill the setting sun catching her attention making her turn to get her first full look at the ocean glistening in the twilight. She skidded to a halt kicking up her board.

“Surly they won’t care if I’m a few minutes late.” She reasoned with herself as she changed her direction to head to the beach. For such a beautiful spot there was no one in site. Taking a deep breath in smelling the salty air she dropped her things, put on her headphones, kicked off her shoes, and threw her hoodie off. Chance by NEFFEX began as she stretched loosening her joints that were stiff from the long bus ride. Without a second thought she did a round off sticking the landing flawlessly. She continued performing different acrobatic moves mixing them with fighting techniques she’d learned over the years, completely unaware she had gained an audience member.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steven had been hanging out helping Bismuth with some construction to Little Homeworld which was now 85.7 % done, according to Peridot. He was taking his time walking across the warm summer sands of the beach with his sandals in his hand when something caught his eye, well someone is more accurate. It looked like a human but they were performing flips, handstands, kicks, and punches with the grace of Pearl but the flair of Sardonyx. So he stopped taking a seat in the sand to watch in amazement. Their punches and kicks had so much force behind them he wouldn’t be surprised if this person could stand up to a gem, after every few punches or kicks they would do a backwards flip, cartwheel, or a number of other moves he couldn’t name with such ease you’d think they had no bones. They finished with a flip that started with them facing their invisible opponent and ended with them behind them kicking their invisible back. The person had been moving so fast Steven never got a good look at them but now that they had stopped he could see them better. She stood a little under Connie’s height with long dark reddish pink hair pulled into two tight pigtails. She wore a black sports bra that stopped before her tight stomach and a pair of navy green sweatpants with no shoes. He watched as she made her way to what looked like a garbage bag sitting on the beach which she proceeded to pull a box out of he only realized the box was a cigarette box because she flicked a lighter and lit one in her mouth. Figuring she was done he stood, dusted himself off and went to close the gap between them.

“You shouldn’t do that. It’s not good for you.” He found himself saying before he could think better of it. She took a big hit of the cigarette and blew it out into Steven’s face causing him to cough before she responded. 

“And you shouldn’t perv on people it’s creepy.” Steven’s face turned red.

“I wasn’t! I didn’t mean it like that… you just looked really cool. Sorry. Um let’s start over… I’m Steven Universe.” He held out his hand hoping she’d take his offer of peace. She rolled her eyes blowing out another puff of smoke aiming it to her side instead of at him as she shook his hand.

“Spinel but most call me Spin.” Steven smiled brightly.

“Why Spin?” He asked, putting his hands into his pockets. She reached down, slid her shoes on, tied her hoodie around her waist and slung the garbage bag over her shoulder.

“Cause when I knock someone out I hit them so hard they do a wittle spin.” She held a sickening sweet smile on her face when she answered causing Steven to stay silent before trying to break his nervousness with a laugh. To which she clicked her tongue, turned, grabbed her skateboard, and started back towards the sidewalk. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She could hear the Steven kid following her in the sand, when they got to the sidewalk she turned to face him.

“Any reason you’re now stalking me kid?” His face turned red again.

“I was just hoping to talk to you some more. I’ve never seen you around before.”

“And you know everybody in this city?” He nodded proudly, Spinel sighed dropping her board and climbing onto it.

“Fine I just moved here.” she started moving slowly so Steven could keep up.

“Where from?” 

“Indigan, Trout originally, but I’ve been around.” 

“Oh your folks work a travel job?”

“Nope foster kid, hence the bag.” she shrugged the bag on her shoulder.

“Oh…” Steven’s voice was laced with the one thing Spinel despised, pity. She slammed her board to a stop causing Steven to run into her. However before he could apologize she snatched the front of his collar pulling him down so he was staring into her eyes, which now he could see were a deep magenta color.

“Don’t fucking use that tone with me EVER! You got that Mistah Universe?” Steven felt his blood turn to ice but he managed to nod.

“S...Sorry I didn’t mean… um sorry.” She took a deep final drag of her cigarette and flicked it to the ground, letting the smoke fill her lungs before blowing it into his face and watching him cough. She let go of his collar with a small shove almost knocking him off his balance. She was a little surprised when she heard the sound of his flip flops hitting the pavement continuing to follow her as she resumed her slow boarding pace. She decided it was her turn to ask some questions.

“So what’s the school like around here?” She asked catching Steven off guard.

“I don’t really know, I’m home schooled. But my best friend Connie goes to it and she’s super smart so it must be good.” She let a small snort out.

“Whatever. What about the party scene?” 

“Well my friends play in this band called Sadie Killer and The Suspects and they always bring an awesome crowd. Otherwise Sour Cream occasionally still holds his mixers and those are really fun. I can take you to some if you want?” Spinel doubted these mixers or concerts were what she was looking for but she’d at least humor the obvious angel.

“Sure whatever sounds fun.” 

“How old are you?” 

“I’ll be 17 in October.”

“I’ll be in August! Cool!” Spinel chuckled at his silliness. 

“Hey um.. Spin? Where are we going?” Spinel shrugged, she had no intention of showing him where she was going to be staying but at the same time she doubted she could get rid of him without telling him to scram. 

“Well where are you staying?” *Damn it.* She cursed to herself.

“Why do you wanna know?” 

“It’s just getting late and the fact that you have all of your stuff with you must mean you haven’t been to your new place yet right?” he wasn’t wrong the sun was nothing but a thin line on the horizon now, it’d soon be gone she had to get to her new place and soon.

“So?” 

“So I thought maybe I’d show you the way if you want.” She stopped and spun herself and her board around to look at this goofball.

“Why? You thinking I’mma let you in for quicky or something?” Steven’s face lit up fifty shades of red at once causing Spinel to burst into laughter, she had to admit he was kind of cute when flustered. Immediately he started trying to stutter out no’s and of course not’s, only making Spinel laugh harder.

“Chill Universe I’m fucking with you. Geez. Look, my case worker gave me this map but I sorta veered off path so here if you can figure out where the place is I might give you a BJ as a reward.” She nearly fell over laughing watching Steven go so red she thought he’d get a nose bleed. He snatched the map from her hands grumbling as he looked it over.

“That won’t be necessary regardless I do know where this is, even know the family so I’ll take you.” Spinel stepped aside doing a little bow telling Steven to lead the way. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They walked while Steven talked giving Spinel a small tour of what they passed. Spinel carried her board watching him excitedly tell her about different shops and things to do or eat. The walk itself took at least a half hour probably because Spinel made sure to walk slow making Steven do the same so she could stall. But alas soon Steven was pointing to a simple two floor house telling her…

“Tada! Welcome to your new home.” Giving her a beaming bright smile as stars twinkle in his eyes. She faked a return smile and knocked on the door. A plump woman answered the door wearing a yellow floral dress and a large smile.

“Oh let me guess you must be Spinel? Your case worker said you might dilly dally. Oh Steven is that you?” Steven chuckled,

“”Hello Mrs. Green nice to see you again.” Before Spinel could escape Mrs. Green stopped her giving her a look of wanting an explanation.

“Sorry I got distracted by the water. Steven helped me find my way. It’s nice to meet you.” She said through a half ass fake smile that Mrs. Green didn’t seem to mind returning with a pleased smile.

“That’s perfectly fine deary. We have a gift waiting for you in the kitchen, why don’t you say thank you to Steven, put your bag by the stairs and come join the rest of us in there when you’re done.” Spinel walked into the house and dropped her stuff walking back to the front door to say her goodbyes. 

“Well there’s still a little more than a month left before school starts up again. Maybe we could hang out and I can show you around town some more, you know when it’s not so late.” 

“Sure Universe sounds good.” Steven smiled, making Spinel want to mess him up again. So she smiled back letting her teeth show some.

“So see you later than?” Steven began to turn when Spinel stepped out fully on the porch closing the door behind her.

“Oh Stevie.” She sang causing him to turn back at her with a raised eyebrow.

“You got me home safe and sound. Don’t cha want your reward?” She had a wickedly evil smile spread across her lips. Steven turned red slowly backing up with his hands up defensively until his back hit the porch beam.

“Spinel come on don’t joke like that.” He tried to laugh it off but it was obvious he was freaking out. Spinel loved it, she placed a hand firmly on his chest pinning him to the beam. 

“Aw is wittle Stevie scared?” She teased as she straightened herself nice and tall. Steven closed his eyes, his breathing was sporadic and Spinel could feel his heart beating out of his chest.  
*Geez he’d have a damn heart attack if I actually did give him a BJ.*  
Spinel took the opportunity of Steven closing his eyes to lean forward and plant a deep firm kiss on his quivering lips. She felt his body stiffen in shock but didn’t break the connection yet waiting until he relaxed and kissed back to finally pull away still sporting her vicious smile that now held a great deal of pride. Steven stared at her his eyes doing that star thing again, causing her to chuckle at his cuteness. She leaned back off of her tiptoes and licked her lips as she took a step back.

“Well well well Mistah Universe you ain't too bad at that.” She gave him a wink before turning on her heel to head back inside.

“Catch ya later Stevie.” She closed the front door trying to hold back her laughter. She glanced out of the window next to the front door to find Steven still standing there stunned before he seemed to come to and lightly touch his lips, a large smile covering his face as he turned and rushed home. When he had finally left Spinel doubled over with laughter,  
*How could he be that cute and be the same age as me.*  
She sighed making her way into the kitchen where her new temporary family waited. The dinner table was set with plates full of food like roast beef, potatoes, and vegetables. Around it sat three other kids all younger than her, a man who she learned was Mr. Green, and Mrs. Green with an empty seat for her where a small white box with a pink bow sat on the empty plate.  
*They actually got me a present?*  
Spinel took her seat and opened the box, inside sat a new phone. She looked up at the Greens in disbelief causing Mrs. Green to walk over to place love hands on Spinel’s shoulders making her tense up. 

“We don’t want you to feel restricted here honey. We know you’ve had some… trouble in the past. But we want you to have a fresh start. Now we’ll make you a deal.”  
*Oh great here it comes?* 

“We’ll give you a phone and as much freedom as possible if you make sure you text or call us if you’re going to stay out past ten and you keep close to Steven. He’s a good kid and should be a good influence on you.” Mr. Green nodded in agreement. 

“So I can stay out late if what I send you a picture of me and Steven hanging out?” Both of the Greens nodded.  
*Not a bad deal.*

“Alright deal. And thanks I love the phone.” she held out her hand to make it official but received a hug instead. With all of the deal making the roast was cut they ate and introductions were made giving names to the three kids as Kimmy the youngest at age 10, Lance as the middle at 12, and Ella as the oldest at 13. Spinel decided to ask if Mrs. Green happened to know Steven’s phone number and to her surprise she did, apparently he had babysat for them once or twice so it made sense. Spinel was even more surprised to find out she got her own room down in their newly renovated basement. She collapsed onto her new bed and just about melted. She pulled out her new phone and typed the first ever message… 

“Looking forward to making ya blush again Mistah Universe. (kissy face emoji)” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At first Steven couldn’t process what was happening, one second they were talking about hanging out later the next he was pinned against a porch bean with lips pressed to his. His brain had shut down letting his instincts take over instead as he slowly fell into the kiss and kissed back only for it to end much too soon. She pulled away, giving him a wicked smile that sent chills through his entire body. 

“Well well well Mistah Universe you ain't too bad at that.” She gave him a wink sending another chill through him, before turning on her heel to head back inside.

“Catch ya later Stevie.” She shut the front door and Steven couldn’t move, his brain quite working. He reached up lightly running his fingers across his lips before he smiled.  
Strawberries.  
Realizing he was still standing on the porch, probably looking as much like a dork as he felt, he quickly turned and left. He hadn’t realized it but by the time he stopped he was at the Big Donut so he leaned against the cool brick building letting the coolness counter his burning skin.  
*She… She… She… Kissed me. That was my first kiss!!*  
Connie had only ever kissed his cheek and last time they’d talked, before she went away to space camp, they had agreed to just be friends until they had more time to figure things out. But this new girl, Spinel, just stole his first kiss. His heart was racing, his body felt hot, his legs were numb, and all he could think about was the strawberry flavor of her lips.  
*Okay… okay Steven pull yourself together. It was just a kiss. No big deal. I’m totally not about to have a heart attack. Yeah… I’m fine.*  
Steven took a deep calming breath which didn’t help so he took another five. Once he felt more stable he stood back up and finished the walk to his house, ate dinner, changed, and proceeded to collapse into his bed. His eye lids felt like anvils had been taped to them, he was so ready for bed. Just as his eyes had closed his phone chimed and they shot open again, groaning he flipped to snatching the annoying device off of his night stand. He didn’t recognize the number but the message made it clear who the sender was, as he read it he felt his face reheat itself. 

“Looking forward to making ya blush again Mistah Universe. (kissy face emoji)” He tried to think of a witty comeback, really he did, but all his blood was currently in his face and not his brain so it went into autopilot and typed the first thing that came to mind.

“I’m free tomorrow.” (Grinning smiley emoji.)  
He immediately regretted but it was too late as his thumb hit the send button. He wanted to scream at himself but when no response was sent back he opted for putting the phone back and going to bed.


	2. A New Style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot happens on Spinel's second day in Beach City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the wonderful reviews and all the kudos, sorry for the wait but this chapter is long and even has art to go along with it. So go check that out on my tumblr @ starsandheartsforever . Also I decided to move this fanfic along rather quickly because I just couldn't wait to have my fun. Warning if you don't like Stevel don't read.

Spinel’s eyes didn’t want to open, they felt glued shut, but the feeling of a presence looming over her took priority to her sleepy state. When she felt something touch her legs she acted out of pure instinct grabbing the hand and bringing what was in her hand to the person’s neck. Her eyes were hazy so she couldn’t process who she had caught, but the sweet and kind voice she had heard before brought her out of her sleepy state.

“S-Spinel sweetie. It’s just me Mrs. Green.” Spinel immediately released her arm.

“Oh I’m-I’m so sorry Mrs. Green I- I didn’t.” Spinel grabbed her messy pigtails and started to pull.

{Way to go Spinel! You just fucked yourself! They’ll send you back and you’re toast! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!}

Mrs. Green rubbed her wrist but gave Spinel a soft knowing smile. Her hands gently cupped Spinel’s causing them to release her pigtails and rest in her hands. 

“It’s okay Spinel. Dear take a breath, you didn’t hurt me. I wanted to cover you with the blanket but I shouldn’t have scared you. ” Spinel looked up at kind eyes with pure shock.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I scared you didn’t I? You were simply defending yourself, no harm no foul.” Spinel’s shock didn’t waver, which caused Mrs. Green to chuckle.

“Darling I too was a foster child once. Do you know how long it took for me to get used to having Mr. Green in the bed with me. Poor man woke up with new bruises every morning for at least a week. I know it won’t be easy to accept right away but you are safe here.” Spinel sighed and let a smile grace her features. Mrs. Green released Spinel’s hands and stood straight still smiling.

“Besides I don’t know how effective a phone is in place of a knife.” Spinel looked at the object she had in her hand realizing she had managed to fall asleep with her new phone in her hand. 

“Now you don’t have to get up if you don’t want to. It is summer vacation and I doubt you got much sleep on the bus ride here. However there is breakfast upstairs if you decide to.” Mrs. Green made her way back to the staircase heading to get herself some breakfast. Spinel watched her leave rubbing her eyes both to get the remaining sleep out of them and because she couldn’t believe what she just witnessed. She had, had 9 homes since entering foster care, some hadn’t been too bad but non had a former foster kid as a parent. She had heard of homes like that but always thought them to be a myth. 

{Can I actually relax here?} She wondered with a soft hopeful smile as she turned to notice her phone again. A small red light blinked in one of its corners indicating she had a message. Flicking it on she read the sender’s custom name (Stevie), she smiled and opened the message. 

“I’m free tomorrow.” Spinel laughed.

“Maybe Mr. good boy wasn’t as innocent as he led everyone to believe.” She spoke to herself, remembering how he had reacted to her kiss yesterday and laughing more. She looked at the time and coughed as she read 12:23 pm. She slept in! She hadn't done that in years! She wondered if Steven was sitting by his phone waiting for her to message back. That thought made her stand, stretch, and head to the mini bathroom to get ready for the day. Her office rubber bands were just barely holding her knotted pom pom looking pigtails together, they almost looked like the style her mother used to do for her when she was little. She yanked out the bands out in frustration causing them to snap.

“Shit.” She cursed now mad she broke her last two rubber bands. She opened the medicine cabinet and noticed the brand new pink and black brush and pack of actual hair ties. Grateful for the gesture and making a mental note to thank the Greens. She tried to brush her bed head out only to find sand mixed into the strands. Another look in the mirror showed her hair wasn’t the only mess she had. Her usual three points under eye had smeared half way down her cheeks making her look crazier than normal. How had Mrs. Green not been laughing at her the entire time they were talking, was beyond her. She figured a shower would be in her best interests. The hot water of the shower was a welcomed way to knock the last of her sleep out of her. She was never one to take long showers, having to share one bathroom with three or more kids taught her how to do five minute showers. She rummaged through her garbage bag of things pulling out all of her clothes trying to determine what was clean and dirty. She decided on a pair of grey baggy cargo pants and a black tunic with a heart shaped rib cage on it, she fixed her make up and pulled her hair into new pigtails. Heading up the stairs, she could hear the kids running around playing and laughing. Mrs. Green stood in the kitchen, where the basement door lead to, washing dishes, while Mr. Green ran around chasing Kimmy with Lance hanging from his back. Spinel sat at the small island with Ella watching the show. 

“So any plans today Spinel?” Mrs. Green asked not taking her attention from the dishes. 

“Um… Well Steven said he wasn’t busy so I thought maybe I’d bug him. Besides that I wanted to go swimming in the sea, I’ve never had a chance before.”

“Do you have a suit?” Ella asked glancing over at Spinel with a smile.

“If a tee-shirt and shorts count.”

“I was going to take the girls into town for some new school clothes. You’re welcomed to join and we can get you a proper suit. If you’d like.” Spinel shrugged and agreed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spinel didn’t mind shopping with the Green women, Ella mostly kept to herself only asking for the occasional opinion, Kimmy kept picking out hair accessories for both her and Spinel. Which Spinel didn’t mind and wound up with about 10 different berets and ribbons in her pigtails before Ella got distracted by dresses leaving Spinel to uncollage her hair. Mrs. Green just monitored from a distance only calling Spinel over once she had found the swimsuits. Spinel found an army green two piece with an around the neck tied top and a pair of shorts. 

“Well the girls and I are going to head back home. Did you want to come back with us?” Spinel was asked as she helped load the shopping bags into their minivan. 

“I should probably text Steven. Thank you for the new stuff.” Mrs. Green had insisted on Spinel getting some clothes she had been caught looking at and both a school backpack and a purse backpack. Mrs. Green took the clothes and school bag and placed them in the car leaving Spinel with her suit and purse. She gave Spinel some food money and began driving back towards their house. Spinel debated actually texting Steven. Sure she enjoyed messing with the kid and sure he may have been nice and kinda cute but he was also a good kid. She was itching to get into trouble or at the very least find some stoners and have some fun there and Steven was sure as shit not someone who would be up for either of those. On the other hand she was supposed to be keeping out of trouble and Steven was a good way to do that, plus he was cute. Spinel groaned pulling her phone out and typing a message. 

“Hey Universe! I’m bored so let’s play a game. I’ll give you 5 clues as to where I am come find me and I’ll reward ya. The less clues I give you the better the reward. And don’t keep me waiting, Clue #1 You can find many friendly wild animals here.” She made her way to the arcade across the street as she pressed send.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steven woke early, as he usually did nowadays, joined the gems for together breakfast, and helped Pearl bring in and fold the laundry before he decided he was going to go to Little Homeworld. He grabbed his phone from his room and found Amethyst waiting to join him in the living room. However just as they were about to get on the warp pad his phone chimed. Steven had completely forgotten Spinel had texted him last night and seeing her number reappear on his screen brought back all of the memories of her kissing him and his response to her late night text. His face went red and it was far too much to ask that Amethyst wouldn’t notice.

“Dude what’s up with you?” she asked trying to make a grab at his phone only to miss. 

“Nothing just met someone new yesterday. They um… wanna hang out. You don’t mind do you?” Amethyst scoffed knowing full well Steven was hiding something about this new person. To Steven’s relief Amethyst didn’t press him for more information and instead sighed and warped away. Being alone now Steven felt safe from nosey gems and could open the message. Spinel wanted to play a game? You can find many friendly wild animals here. Steven instantly thought of the zoo but he wasn’t sure if the animals there were exactly friendly there. 

“Can I have the second clue please?” He replied biting his lip as he headed out and towards town. Maybe he could get lucky and just happen to find her.

“Clue #2 (Teeth showing Smiley face emoji)” What was that? How was an emoji a clue?

“That’s not fair!” Steven messaged back passing the Big Donut. 

“Sure it is. Come on Universe you’ve lived in this city for how long? This should be easy. Do you want another clue?” Steven thought hard.

{Smiley face emoji… Smiley face… Smiley! Mr. Smiley! Funland maybe? Or maybe the arcade? They both have plush animals.}

He decided to try the closer of the two first and headed towards the arcade when his phone chimed in his hand.

“Well? Giving up already?” 

“No just thinking.” Steven made it to the large opening of the arcade and couldn’t help but smile finding Spinel playing a simple fighting game. She hadn't noticed him yet, he didn’t want to scare her and risk making her mad so instead he messaged her.

“You look cool today. Oh and I win!” He watched her pause the game and check her phone before turning to greet him with an amused smile.

“Congratulations!” 

“Thanks honestly I just got lucky.” Steven chuckled rubbing his neck and pocketing his phone. Spinel closed the distance between them causing Steven to slightly panic and take a step back at her sudden approach.

“What’s wrong Universe? Don’t cha want your reward? You did win after all.” 

“How about you just owe me?” He tried to joke, just thinking about tasting her strawberry lips again was sending his head into a spiral. She clicked her tongue and pouted.

“What am I no good? Or is that “Best Friend” of yours actually a girlfriend?”

“What? No to both of them. It’s just… we only just met yesterday.” He felt his cheeks heat up some as he grumbled his next words.

“And that was kinda my first kiss.” Spinel couldn’t help her laughter despite the hurt look on Steven’s face.

“You’re shitting me right?” Steven shook his head looking ashamed but he wasn’t sure why he felt that way. Spinel realized he was being serious and kind of felt bad for the guy.

“Alright, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have stolen your first. But honestly it’s not as big of a deal people make it out to be.” She tried to act more sorry than she really was. Steven looked up from the ground and gave her the cutest innocent puppy look causing her heart to skip. 

“Shit Universe keep that goody two shoes thing up and your first kiss won’t be the only first I’ll steal from you.” Steven’s face turned red.

“What? What do you mean?” Spinel just smiled ignoring his question to finish her game. Once she had won her game they decided to take a walk making their way to get some fries and drinks. Steven introduced Spinel to the kid behind the counter.

“Hey Peedee this is Spinel, Spinel Peedee. His family owns this place, and they make the best fries.” Peedee rolled his eyes at Steven’s compliant and handed them their order. Peedee greeted Spinel but neither were all that interested in having a conversation so after Steven talked for a bit they decided to let Peedee get back to work. They made their way to a bench nearby and ate.

“So did you have any ideas on what you wanted to do today? We could go to Funland, I could show you around more, we could head back to the arcade.” 

“Mrs. Green bought me a bathing suit, so I really wanna go swimming. But first what’s with all the people in costumes?” Spinel asked watching as Cherry Quarts walked by with Blue Lace Agate. Steven chuckled realizing most of the gems had chosen to stay in Little Homeworld so people outside of Beach city probably hadn’t seen many of gem kind.

“They’re not in costumes, they’re gems.” 

“Like those Crystal Gem guys that go around fighting monsters?”

“Yeah but we don’t fight monsters anymore. All of these gems you see were those monsters but they were just corrupted and didn’t know what they were doing. Everyone was healed not too long ago so now they’re making a home here on earth. More specifically over there in Little Homeworld.” Steven pointed to the large wind turbine tower that indicated Little Homeworld.

“We?” Was Spinel’s only response causing Steven to blush.

“Yeah… Well I’m a Crystal gem too.” 

“But you don’t look like any of the gems walking around.”

“That’s because I’m half human. My mom was a Diamond and my dad is a human. I live with the other Crystal Gems who used to be on my mom’s rebelion team.” Spinel gave him a disbelieving look as she sipped her drink. Steven sighed and pulled up his shirt to show off his gem at the same time summoning his bubble gloves. Spinel’s eyes went wide watching him and set down her drink.

“Okay that’s cool.” She reached forward and ran her fingers along the pink gem’s smooth surface gaining a shutter from Steven who promptly pulled his shirt back down blushing. 

“Sensitive much?” Spinel asked chuckling at Steven’s shyness. Steven told her more about his life and the gems answering any questions she had.

“Maybe you can give me a tour of Little Homeworld later it sounds fun.” Steven nodded as they stood and threw out their trash. 

“Sure. We can go swimming now if you want, I have to go get my trunks but if you don’t mind you can change at my place too.” Spinel agreed and they made their way to Steven’s house talking all the way. Steven half hoped none of the Gems where home, he really didn’t want to have them embarrassing him even more than he already did. He called out when they entered and was thankful not to receive an answer back. 

“I’m going to go change upstairs you can use the bathroom there.” Steven pointed to the bathroom but looking back at Spinel and seeing her amused smile stopped him from heading upstairs.

“Aw here I was thinking you invited me over for some fun. Bummer.” She laughed at his blush as he turned and rushed up to his room. She walked into the bathroom and changed. After finishing she could hear someone in the kitchen and figure Steven was done. 

“You ready Stevie?” She said walking out and finding a short long haired purple gem and not Steven. They stared at one another for a good few minutes before the purple gem spoke.

“Um hiya.” 

“Sup.” Steven suddenly came down the stairs still wearing his black star shirt and his jacket but his jeans had been replaced with light pink shorts. 

“Oh Amethyst hey… I thought you were at Little Homeworld.” Amethyst glanced at Steven and Spinel before smiling and answering.

“Yeah I came back for a snack. So who’s your friend Stevie?” She emphasized the nickname Spinel had used. Spinel gave an apologetic smile to Steven whose face was as red as a tomato but he took a breath trying to not give Amethyst any ideas.

“This is Spinel, she’s new to town and we were going swimming. Spinel this is Amethyst she’s basically my big sis.” Spinel hated meeting the family of people she hung out with, they usually judged her and didn’t like what they thought she was. She gave a half assed smile and waved holding her backpack strap tightly. Steven was taken aback by Spinel’s sudden lack of confidence add that to the weird suggestive look Amethyst was giving him and he was ready to get out of there. He walked passed Amethyst and took Spinel’s hand causing her to jump. 

“We should get going don’t want the sun to set before we get out there.” Steven said pulling a stunned Spinel out of the house before Amethyst could say anything other than telling them…

“Alright see you later Stevie.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spinel stared at their hands as she was lead down the stairs and across the beach away from his house. She couldn’t remember the last time someone held her hand let alone as protectively as Steven was. It was kind of nice, she had to admit but she didn’t want him to think she was weak or scared so she quickly regained her composure. 

“Geeze Universe take a girl to dinner first.” She said causing him to stop and regain his blush releasing her hand.

“Sorry you just looked freaked out by Amethyst.” 

“She just caught me off guard, seems nice though.” Steven nodded,

“Yeah she’s super cool. But um… why’d she call me Stevie?” Spinel laughed…

“I thought it was you in the kitchen so I came out calling you that.” Steven turned a little redder and changed the subject. 

“You want to go swimming?” Spinel laughed again looking around for a good spot to drop her stuff finding a small bundle of rocks and chucking her bag over to it. 

“Last one in goes down on the other!” Spinel hollered as she booked it towards the water. Steven yelped stripping off his shirt, jacket, and shoes as he tried to catch up but Spinel had the upper hand and hit the water way before Steven. The water was warmer than Spinel had expected as she made her way past some oncoming waves to dive headfirst in. Steven wasn’t far behind but when she dived he lost sight of her. He pushed past the waves and started to swim out into the more calmer water searching for any sign of her. Suddenly Spinel came out of the water behind him growling as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Steven couldn’t help the shriek that came out at the sudden surprise but laughed realizing there was no actual danger. 

“I win Stevie.” She chuckled into his ear only to laugh harder when she noticed his ears turn red. She let go of his neck and flopped back on her back relaxing into the water. He swam next her enjoying the peaceful look she wore as the waters carried her. They continued swimming and exploring underwater and even getting into the occasional splash fight for hours. Spinel was actually having fun and she wasn’t doing anything illegal, she had to admit she was a little stunned by the notion. The sun was lower in the sky now as they both floated in the water watching the colors paint the sky. Spinel moved closer to Steven who looked like he was sleeping, his gem reflecting the sun’s rays drawing Spinel’s attention. She ran her finger along it’s surface leaving a line of water in its path and causing Steven to jump and change positions so it was hidden by the water. She pushed away from him so she could circle him while wearing a devilish smile.

“You know I never did give you your prize for finding me.” she prompted waiting for his response. Steven chuckled nervously.

“I don’t need one, hanging out is more than enough.” Steven was starting to feel like a fish being circled by a shark as he watched her swim around him. 

“Yeah Yeah I know I stole your first kiss. But did you ever think that maybe I did it because I wanted to kiss you?” 

“Why?” She chuckled at his naiveness.

“Because it was fun and your pretty cute. More so when you get all shy.” Steven swallowed the lump in his throat and blushed. 

“But you just met me.” Spinel stopped swimming and moved closer to Steven.

“Yeah and I’m a real good judge of character.” Steven thought about backing up but knew it would be a useless plan so he didn’t resist when Spinel wrapped her arms around his neck. He tried to think of something to say anything to ask that would clear up his confusion. However soon all brain functions ceased and there was no hope of speaking as soft lips connected to his own. He’d seen in movies before that when two people kiss there was usually some dramatic fireworks display but for him it felt more like when he’d seen his mother’s flowers bloom on the hill. Everything got even better when he remembered he should kiss back. Spinel’s hands laced into his hair and pulled him deeper into the kiss so Steven followed her lead and wrapped an arm around her waist making sure to keep them afloat with the other one. Spinel was the one to break the kiss giving Steven’s hair a light harmless tug as she pulled away. He was hoping she would kiss him again but when she didn’t he opened his eyes looking to meet her magenta ones. She smiled and her hands started to pull away from his hair, he didn’t even think before acting and tightened his hold on her waist saying the first words that came to his mind.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” The stars that shined in his brown eyes mixed with a pleading look and she found it so cute. She chuckled but she wasn’t laughing at him more so at herself. How did she let herself get so wrapped up in her game that she had forgotten that’s what it was. All of this had just been a way of entertaining herself and was going to be a way to get what she wanted from the Greens. But here she was in the middle of the ocean happily wrapped around a cute muffin named Steven Universe, and frankly she didn’t want to let go. Anyone she had “dated” in the past had just been a means to an end and the few she had let herself actually like only ended up hurting her. However Steven, Steven wasn’t like the punks she had liked before, he was genuinely a good person. She gave Steven an apologetic smile and pushed herself away not giving him an answer as she headed back to the shore. He followed of course now feeling a pain in his chest.

“Spinel? Did… Did I say something wrong?” That hurt, it hurt Spinel in a way she’d never hurt before. Once they were to shore she sat and invited Steven to join her. He grabbed his shirt and offered her his jacket as he sat beside her. 

“Look Universe I’m not the girlfriend type of girl.” She didn’t make eye contact as she spoke but pulled his jacket around her chilled arms.

“I’m not the long walks on the beach, romantic dinners, and Valentine's Day gifts, I’m the fuck them and leave them type. I’m far from a virgin and if I’m being honest this…” She gestured between the two of them.

“This was supposed to be me just fucking with you because I think you’re cute.” Steven felt the pain in his chest tighten but stars help him he wasn’t going to give up easily.

“I hope I’m sensing a but coming?” She let a breathy chuckle leave her before continuing.

“But you’re so damn nice Steven! And damn it, I really don’t want to hurt you! Getting hurt like that… it can really fuck a person up.” She wrapped her arms around herself pulling tighter on the jacket as memories of her own pain started to respond to her thoughts. Steven could tell she was speaking from experience and truly hated whoever hurt her so bad. 

“Spinel why do you think you’re going to hurt me? I mean isn’t everything we’ve done all day been more or less a date? What could happen if we just keep doing this? If you don’t like the boyfriend girlfriend terms we don’t have to use them.” Spinel chuckled and cursed herself when she could hear her voice crack like she was about to cry.

“Because you’re too damn cute.” She looked him in the eye with a sad smile. 

“And I don’t wanna stop playing with you. You’re too fun.” Steven knew he was blushing, he could feel it but he was trying to not let it overtake him. However his will power wasn’t strong enough to organize his thoughts long enough to think of what to say. He didn’t have time to dwell on the thought that he could manage to grab onto so instead he acted on it. Leaning forward he planted a firm but soft kiss on the lips of a very stunned Spinel, who in turn kissed back despite herself. Steven pulled back now feeling more confident about what he wanted to say.

“Then why do we have to stop playing?” Steven looked so… so… just fucking cute! 

“Fuck.” Spinel breathed out causing Steven to pull back some out of concern. 

“Fuck! Fucking hell Universe!” She grabbed hold of a fist full of his shirt collar and yanked until there was only an inch between their lips. However instead of kissing him she spoke in a very low whisper. 

“Don’t say I didn’t fucking warn you Steven.” He smiled and took the initiative to close the gap to connect their lips as his answer that he understood and was fine with it. Their kiss lasted all of a few seconds before Steven felt Spinel’s tongue lick his bottom lip. When he didn’t do what she had expected him to do she pulled away and glared at him. 

“Open your damn mouth.” She ordered as she moved to climb on top of Steven’s lap.

“Wha! Wait, wait Spinel!” He tried to protest but she moved too fast as he was now sitting with Spinel straddling his lap and looking down at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“What? You don’t wanna keep kissing?” Steven was beat red and stuttering and Spinel grew irritated with it so she leaned down and replaced her lips on his slightly parted ones slipping her tongue past them with ease. She remembered feeling a spark of energy when she’d kissed him the first time but wrote it off as nothing and the other times she hadn’t noticed the spark but as soon as her tongue was inside it was like a stun gun of pleasure had hit her. She resisted the urge to pull away and instead started to explore his electrified mouth. She could feel him start to comprehend the new level of their game as his hands snaked under his jacket and up her back to hold her as his tongue begin to try and mimic her’s. They kept devouring one another until neither of them could breathe and had no choice but to pull away. A single thread of mixed saliva was all that connected their mouths as they both were left panting sharing the air between them. If it wasn’t for Steven’s phone suddenly ringing and scaring them half to death they would have continued making out. Steven swallowed a breath in an attempt to regain his composure as he pulled his phone from his jacket pocket.

“Y-yeah?” Spinel leaned back on Steven’s propped up legs and reached to grab her bag as she half listened to his conversation. The voice on the other end was definitely feminine but at a higher pitch than Amethyst had. Spinel pulled out her phone, cigarettes and lighter and popped one into her mouth lighting it. Steven looked at her and mouthed “Really?” before he had to respond to the woman on the phone.

“What? How? Pearl yeah of course… I’m at the beach give me a few minutes… No I’m not far from the house I can grab the car and be there in no time… Yeah I will. See you soon.” Steven sighed as he ended the call so Spinel blew a smoke cloud at him causing him to cough.

“So what’s up buttercup?” She asked returning his small glare with a teasing smile. 

“That was Pearl, she’s kind of like my mom. She’s with everyone at Little Homeworld and someone got hurt and needs help. I’m sorry.” Spinel waved her hand dismissing his apology. 

“If they need ya they need ya.”

“Wanna come with me? You could see Little Homeworld, though you might have to meet some of my family.” Spinel took a long drag of her cigarette glancing at her phone (6:48 pm) weighing her options. Either go back to the Greens, walk around by herself for a few hours, or go with Steven and meet his family. She blew out the smoke off to the side with a defeated sigh. 

“I guess. But I can’t guarantee they’ll like me, it’s more likely they won’t.” Steven smiled at her.

“I mean I would much rather go back to your place since it’s probably empty and continue our game. But I suppose that can wait if you’re needed.” She smiled leaning forward to give Steven a sweet kiss before moving to climb off of his lap, leaving him sitting there with his face in his hands. She pulled out her cargo pants and shirt sliding them on over her suit and handing him his jacket. 

“You can wear it if you want. It um… looks good on you.” He said sheepishly standing and dusting himself off. 

“You sure?” Steven shrugged, so Spinel wrapped herself back in the slightly big coat as Steven began leading them back toward the house where his car was. 

“Cute car.” Spinel commented as they climbed in and started to drive. She leaned against the door watching the town pass by in a blur occasionally glancing back at Steven as he focused on the road.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t long before the large turbine was now towering over them. As soon as they were parked a tall thin gem rushed over to them.

"Oh Steven good you're here. Quickly Biggs is this way. We didn't want to agitate the her crack by moving her, so Amethyst is with her." Steven gestured for Spinel to follow as they rushed off heading deeper into town. The gem hadn't seemed to notice Spinel, probably from her panicked state.

"So what happened Pearl?" 

"Oh Biggs and Amethyst were wrestling around and knocked into some of Bismuth's equipment landing something on Biggs' gem. Pearl sighed leading them to a small crowd of gems who parted as they approached. In the center sat Amethyst holding the head of a large multi brown colored gem, whose feet were stretched out looking like noodles that another gem held. Spinel didn't know much about gem autonomy but that didn't seem right.

"How're we doing Biggs?" Steven asked the gem as Pearl handed him a pair of medical gloves.

"Had better days." Steven chuckled as he knelt down examining the gem on Biggs' chest. There as a fracture starting from the center and splitting down to one end. 

"Don't worry nothing's chipped. Everything is still in one piece so this'll be an easy fix." Steven then proceeded to lick his gloved palm and place it directly onto Biggs’ gem. Spinel found herself weirdly fascinated by what he was doing and watched silently as little pink sparkles circled his and the gem. He removed his hand to reveal a now smooth and crack free surface and within seconds of the reveal Biggs’ legs glowed and returned to her body looking much more natural. Amethyst and Steven helped her stand making sure everything was back to normal.

“There how’s that feel?” 

“Much better thanks Steven.”

“No problem just be more careful, both of you.” He glanced over at Amethyst only to find her not listening to him but instead looking past him at Spinel who meanwhile was watching Steven trying not to be noticed. It seemed to be working because Pearl hadn’t said anything about the unfamiliar human who had been in his car, followed them, and was now standing right next to her. However now that both Amethyst and Steven were looking at her Pearl couldn’t help but notice her. Pearl glanced at Spinel, who jumped from the sudden attention, and seemed taken aback by her.

“Oh! Hello.” Pearl turned to offer her hand to Spinel who nervously took it and shook replying with a soft hello back. Biggs thanked Amethyst and said something about leaving before disappearing along with most of the gem cround leaving behind Steven, Amethyst, Pearl and Spinel. Steven made his way to stand next to Spinel, he half hoped he could just take her and leave but he knew that was a plan that would fail as soon as he tried it.

“Pearl this is Spinel. She's um… new to Beach City. We were hanging out when you called so we’ll just be going now.” Pearl basically ignored the last part and began introducing herself and Amethyst to Spinel.

“Oh it’s so nice to meet you Spinel. My name's Pearl and this is Amethyst.” She gestured to Amethyst next to her.

“Yeah we met earlier when she was at the house.” Amethyst commented shaking Spinel’s hand.

“Oh?” Pearl looked at Steven for some clarification and Steven scratched his head.

“Yeah we wanted to go swimming so I let her change in the bathroom.”

“Stevie’s jacket looks good on you Spinel.” Amethyst pointed out gaining a small glare from Steven. Pearl seemed to notice now that Spinel was in fact wearing Steven’s favorite jacket and seemed perplexed by both that and the unfamiliar nickname Amethyst had used. Steven was starting to get flustered. Spinel didn’t like seeing Steven all flustered by someone else, that was her job.

“Yeah well she-” Steven began to explain that she was cold and didn’t want to be rude when Spinel suddenly took hold of his hand interlocking their fingers and cutting his explanation short substituting her own.

“Has every right to wear my boyfriend’s jacket don’t I?” Steven’s eyes went wide at her words and so did the other two gems as they all looked at her. Spinel simply smiled looking up at Steven and wrapping her free arm around his arm.

“Right Stevie?” 

“Um… right.” Steven couldn’t think of what else to say. Spinel’s voice sounded way too sweet as she spoke for the tongue tied hybrid.

“Well it was so nice to meet you both but I do have a curfew and Steven promised to show me around town some more. Why don’t I come by another day when I have more time to meet you all more properly?” Pearl gained her composure back much more quickly than either Amethyst or Steven and cleared her throat shaking Spinel’s hand again and responding to her offer.

“Yes well that sounds lovely and we look forward to it. We can prepare dinner and get to know more about each other.” 

“Sounds great. Come on Steven I want to see Funland before I have to go.” She lightly gave Steven’s arm a tug leading him away as she said goodbye to the two gems. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steven didn’t say a word the whole walk back to his car and for a good few minutes sitting in the car. He hadn’t even registered that he was in his car until Spinel spoke, her voice no longer having a sickly sweet fakeness to it.

“Steven? Are you going to start the car?” Steven blinked looking down at his keys in his hand before looking back up at her in complete disbelief his brain having been plugged back in at the sight of her.

“What was that?” His tone was calm but still laced with a stunned tone.

“What was what?” Spinel replied unfazed as if she hadn’t just called Steven her boyfriend in front of half of his family no less. 

“What happened to the ‘I’m not the girlfriend type of girl’?” Spinel laughed.

“Me making out with you was kind of me saying yes to being your girlfriend. Goofball.” Spinel sighed, pulled out a cigarette and lit it, this caused Steven to finally start the car so she could crack the window, but he didn’t make a move to actually start driving. 

“You said you didn’t want to stop playing right?” Steven looked at his steering wheel blushing.

“Well frankly neither do I. You’re fun Universe. Your kisses feel amazing, my guess is it’s from that healing spit thing I saw you do. I absolutely love making you blush and get all flustered. And…” She hooked her finger under Steven’s chin tilting his head towards her, so he was staring into her eyes. Steven could have sworn her eyes had an extra ring of color in them that hadn’t been here before.

“I have every intention of taking as many of your virginities as I possibly can.” She smiled a wide toothy grin that made Steven shiver and fear for his life. He had stood up to countless dangerous gems, bubbled the giant planet destroying forced fusion cluster, been lost in space, faced three diamonds five times his size, and literally had his gem torn out of him, all before he had even turned fifteen. But right here, right now in his safe little car, sitting in the middle of one of the safest places on earth, with at least a hundred strong gems who would all jump to protect him, he had never been so afraid. However he couldn’t deny that he also felt a mixture of excitement and curiosity. Releasing Steven’s chin she returned to taking a long drag from her cigarette, letting it sit for a second before releasing the smoke when she spoke.

“Drive.” Steven blinked feeling like he was no longer controlling his movements and that it was instead Spinel using some sort of voice command like with some of the gem technology. He knew where he was driving even if it was only subconsciously. They pulled into a parking spot at Funland, Spinel got out, flicked her cigarette to the ground and sat on the car hood waiting. Steven followed her lead and climbed out leaning on the hood next to her.

“Are you gonna be a zombie for the rest of the day? Cause that’s no fun.” Steven just looked at her… 

“Huh?” She groaned in annoyance grabbing hold of his collar and pulling him into a deep and rough kiss. She gave him a small shove when it broke jaring him enough to come out of his daze. He blinked a few times before rubbing his face like he just woke from a dream.

“I gotta be honest Spinel… This whole time I’ve been trying to think of anything I could say to you but my brain is just blank. Is it bad that all I wanna do is yell from being happy and kiss you again?” He chuckled nervously a small blush clearly going across his cheeks. Spinel wore a smug smile that seemed like she was silently laughing at him. 

“I ain’t going to stop you. I’ll laugh and think your a dork. But I won’t stop ya.” Steven smiled doing as he said, covering his mouth with his hands he let out a giddy yell bending over as he did. Spinel just chuckled waiting for him to finish. He then stood looking at her, his cheeks gaining more of the red tint to them. She beckoned him to move to stand in front of her between her opened legs as she waited for him to make good on the other half. He leaned down placing an obviously nervous kiss on her lips. He felt her smile into the kiss as her arms reached up to wrap around his neck and pull him closer deepening the kiss but not for nearly long enough, to her disappointment. Steven pulled back moving his head to rest on her shoulder with a sigh. 

“You’re going to be the death of me.” He whispered more to himself than to her, but she still responded.

“Yes… but don’t worry your pretty little head. I’ll make sure you enjoy every second of it.” Steven shivered when Spinel raked her nails along his spine as she whispered her words. They smiled at one another before laughing and Steven moved giving Spinel room to jump from the hood. They mostly played the games around the amusement park only going on a few smaller rides, Spinel wanted to wait until they had more time for the big ones. Before they had noticed it Spinel’s alarm went off warning her it was almost ten. 

“What’s that?” Steven asked holding tight to the merry-go-round poll as Spinel, who was sitting on a hippocampus, [point to those of you who don’t have to look up what that is!] pulled out her phone to turn off the alarm. 

“The Greens made me promise to let them know if I planned to be out past ten, cause of the kids. They said I could stay out if I told them I was with you though.” Steven chuckled. 

“What time is it?” 

“Nine thirty.” 

“Well Funland closes at ten. Do you want me to take you back home?” Spinel found the word home still gave her a weird pit feeling in her stomach but didn’t want Steven to get all weird about it so she pushed the feeling away and gave him a smile.

“Why? Don’t cha want me to come home with you?” Steven tried his best to not blush but failed so instead he looked away.

“Relax just messing with ya.” She leaned over to give Steven a kiss on the cheek.

“Normally I’d suggest finding a party to crash but honestly today wore me out. Never thought it was true that swimming in the ocean was so tiring. You busy tomorrow?” Steven frownd.

“Yeah unfortunately. Sunstone has a safety class to teach tomorrow. I can’t leave Garnet to do it by herself.” Spinel gave him a very confused look as the ride came to a stop and Mr. Smiley’s voice came onto the loudspeaker announcing the park was closing. Steven helped Spinel off the ride and they held hands as they headed towards his car. 

“Um yeah it’s a gem thing that I’ll explain to you later. Basically it means I’m going to be teaching a class tomorrow.” 

“That’s fine. Can you text me?” 

“When I get a break, definitely.” Steven opened the door for her, got in, and began driving towards the Greens’ house. As they drove they talked trying to figure out a good day for them to hang out again. They settled on two days from today, Saturday. Steven was busy with Little Homeschool plans, as he called it, for at least the next two days and he remembered there was a Sadie Killer and the Suspects concert Saturday night so it was perfect. Steven was excited to introduce her to some of his friends and she couldn't help but smile at him for it. Steven walked with her up to the front door when they arrived at the house. 

“God you’re such a good guy Steven walking me safely to the door. You trying to earn extra points or something?” Steven chuckled rubbing his head.

“Nah just being nice, besides it’s more time with you.”

“Dork.” Spinel said shaking her head. 

“Here take your jacket back you big goof.” Steven took it from her and put it on. 

“I’ll see you Saturday night?” Steven nodded.

“I’ll pick you up and we can go to Fish Stew’s for some dinner. If you want.” 

“No clue what that is but sure.” She moved into Steven more to lightly kiss him, she found herself wishing he wasn’t going to leave but knew he wasn’t going to stay. 

“Night Steven.” She opened the door waving as she entered checking out the window to make sure he didn’t repeat what he did yesterday. He smiled, turned, and sat in his car for a moment before driving off. Spinel’s phone pinned, she checked it to find a new message from him.

“Good Night. Sweet dreams. <3” Spinel felt her face heat up, it was such a simple thing but it made her heart skip thinking about him sitting there trying to think of the right thing to text. The sudden sound of someone clearing their throat alerted her to Mrs. Green's presence in the doorway to the living room, her arms were crossed, eyebrow raised, and a very amused smiled lined her lips.

“Have a good day at the beach?” She asked in that motherly sarcastic way, which only made Spinel’s blush deepened as she tried to gain her composure back. 

“Yep.” Her voice betrayed her as her answer came out as more of a squeak. Mrs. Green chuckled and offered for them to talk which Spinel was surprised to find that she actually really wanted to. So together they headed into the kitchen where Mrs. Green cut them both a slice of rum cake and sat at the table while Spinel recanted the events of the day leaving out her and Steven’s make out session. However, Spinel had a sneaking suspicion she didn’t have to say it for Mrs. Green to know about it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Steven pulled up to the beach house and smacked his forehead to the top of the steering wheel.

{I have a girlfriend. I have a girlfriend! And we kissed and made out! OMS!} He was trying his damnedest not to scream from joy but his head and heart were freaking out. All of this happened so fast he felt like now that he had a second to think it all over he had whiplash. Not that he regretted any of it, no not at all. He was just overwhelmed. He wondered if he’d be able to focus at all the next two days. That’s when the memory of what happened at Little Homeworld came rushing back and now on top of the whiplash he felt nauseous. 

{Oh stars… I’m sure Pearl is going to have a million questions and concerns. Ugh and Amethyst is probably going to tease me like crazy. Maybe I can just float up to my room and avoid them? No that’ll only make it worse. I always thought I’d have time to deal with this or not at all if it were Connie. Oh shot! Connie!} Steven pulled out his phone. It was already ten thirty seven, would that be too late to call her? It’s not like they were dating for real, and she had been the one to suggest the whole wait until she got back to figure things out, so it was okay right?

“Hey you up?” He texted not entirely sure what he was hoping for.

“Of course! It’s space camp Steven, can’t study the stars in the daytime. Lol” Steven chuckled.

“Can I call?” he didn’t even get to hit send when suddenly his phone began ringing almost making him drop it.

“Hey sorry Steven I’m trying to look through the telescope so talking is easier. What’s up?” He could tell he was on speaker as he could hear others in the background, this was really not a conversation for speaker phone. 

“If you’re busy we can talk later.” He tried and heard her pick up her phone and take him off speaker telling someone else to have a go with the telescope.

“Steven what’s wrong? Your voice did that thing where it gets lower when you want to talk. Did something happen? Do you need help?” 

“No, no, no… Everything is fine, I just really needed to talk.”

“Okay?” Steven opened his door suddenly feeling claustrophobic and took a deep breath of salty air before talking.

“I know it’s not the end of the summer yet and we agreed to figure things out once you got back but something happened and frankly I don’t know what to do, let alone what to think about all of it.” he spoke so fast it sounded like one long sentence.

“Whoa! Steven! Breath! What are you talking about?” 

{Rip it off like a band-aid Steven. Dang it I hate band-aids.}

“Do you like me Connie? Was the plan to start dating when you came back?” Silence, the sound of the phone shifting, and more silence. Steven was starting to wonder if she had hung up but before he could say something she finally spoke, but she didn’t say what Steven had kind of hoped she’d say.

“Why are you asking all of a sudden?” 

“I want to know Connie please.”

“Why?” 

“Because…” {I met someone who stole my first kiss, made out with me, is suddenly my girlfriend, and I don’t want to hurt you!} Steven yelled in his head.

“Steven I… I don’t know okay. I think when we both agreed to it that’s what I had planned for. I’d come back at the end of summer and we’d… I don’t know just be together.”

“But?” Connie sighed out a chuckle 

“But I’ve been talking to some of the kids my age around here and some of them have already begun preparing for college. And… And I may have met someone…”

“That’s great!” Steven said much too quickly and with too much excitement.

“What?”

“Oh um sorry… but that’s kind of why I was calling you. I think I met someone too. But I didn’t want to act on it if we were a for sure thing. Connie the last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you.” Steven could hear Connie laughing on the other end.

“Geeze Steven I love you.” Now Steven was a little confused.

“Sorry probably the wrong time for that. What I mean is that I love that you worry about not hurting me before everything else. Steven if you like this person don’t let me stop you. No matter what happens we’ll always be jam buds.” Steven smiled and knew she was smiling too. 

“I love you Connie.” She chuckled.

“I love you too Steven… Soooo what’s their name?” Steven laughed.

“Spinel, she just moved here and she’s so different Connie. I think she has some secrets she’s holding back and not ready to share but I know for sure she likes me. She’s so cool oh and talented I saw her doing some acrobatics that she mixed with like fighting moves. Connie it was so cool! I felt like a kid again watching you and Pearl in the arena.” 

“You’ll have to see if she’d be up for sparing. I’d love to see what she’s got.” 

“What about you? You said there was someone on your end too right?” 

“Oh it’s nothing. I still haven’t decided if it’s just admiration or a crush yet. They’re a grade older and super into mythology. OH! And they’re a huge Spirit Morph Saga fan. We were up to nearly 2 am talking about the saga the other night.” 

“Sounds like a crush to me.”

“Oh shush.” They both laughed.

“Well you can spar with Spinel and I can talk about the saga with…” Connie sighed.

“Mal…” 

“Cool! I look forward to meeting them.” 

“Same for Spinel. I’ll talk to you later? They’re call me.”

“Yeah Love ya Connie. Good night.”

“Love you too Steven good night.” Steven pressed the end button and leaned up against the temple hand he was now by sighing as he did. That was a huge weight off his shoulders now but it didn’t make him feel better about facing his family. But, just like Connie, it was better to face it head on and get it over with quickly. He turned on his heel and headed up to his home. He honestly should have figured Pearl would be waiting for him with Amethyst nearby, but he was surprised to not see Garnet. 

“I’m home.” He stated the obvious and it began,

“Steven who is this Spinel? How is it that she’s your girlfriend and we have never even heard of her before? Where’s her family from? Why does Amethyst say she was half naked when she met her!?” 

“P! Take a breath and let him answer at least one of the questions will ya.” Amethyst interrupted her from her spot on the couch, but her saving Steven from Pearl's mile a minute questioning didn’t mean she was forgiven for exaggerating about Spinel in her suit.

“Okay first off… You’ve never met her because I only met Spinel yesterday on the beach, we talked as I walked her home. She lives with the Greens. I don’t know where her family is from, it’s a sensitive subject for her and we haven’t gotten into it yet. I asked her out today while we were hanging out and she said yes. Girlfriend is just easier to say for now. Most importantly she wasn’t half naked she was in a swimsuit, just because she doesn’t wear a one piece like Connie, doesn’t mean she was half naked.”

“What do you mean you don’t know where her family’s from?”

“Pearl she doesn’t have a family as far as I know. The Greens are her foster parents.” Pearl seemed taken aback by the new information so Steven took this opportunity to speak his mind.

“Look I like her… a lot. She’s funny and doesn’t treat me like anything special even though she knows I’m a gem. She’s different and I really, really like that. I want to get to know her better.” Pearl came out of her daze and seemed to understand but she still held that disapproving mother look. So he played his trump card and gave her a sweet soft smile with pleading eyes, he used to do it unknowing when he was young to get extra desert and later to get her to let him go on missions. No matter how much he used it she always fell for it. She sighed and hugged him tightly. 

“Alright Steven if you like her that much. But I want her to come meet us properly.” Steven nodded and returned her hug before saying his good nights and heading up to his room. He stripped off his coat tossing it to his bed and changed before remembering to water his plants. He collapsed onto his be falling face first into his jacket without a care. He took a heavy breath suddenly smelling a newly familiar sent. He sat up looking around for the source of the smell. 

“Spinel?” He softly called out in case anyone was still able to hear him downstairs. There was no answer, he thought about texting her but that would be a weird text. 

“Hey are you in my room?” Yeah not a good idea besides the smell had faded so he shrugged and flopped back down. Suddenly the smell was back, he bolted upright and turned to meet his eyes with his jacket. He brought it up to his face and gave it a sniff. Cigarettes and strawberries, he thought for a moment. She had been wearing it for a good few hours and had smoked a few during that time. He took another deep breath and smiled, she would definitely think he was a dork for this but grabbed his phone anyways typing out a message and sending it before he could change his mind.

“My jacket smells like you. Lol. Is that weird?” He laid back down setting the jacket next to him waiting for her response or for sleep, whichever came first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spinel hated talking about her feelings, especially about ones dealing with liking someone, least of all to a foster parent. However Mrs. Green didn’t do the whole wannabe cousler mom thing. She brought her a piece of cake and just sat down. There was no pressure for Spinel to spill her beans, which for some unknown reason made her want to. Maybe it was the rum in the cake, not likely, but Spinel would say that’s what it was if ever asked. By the time she finished recanting her day with Steven she was blushing, her chest was tight, and she felt like she wanted to punch something and do several charwheels at the same time. It had been a very long time since she felt butterflies in her stomach and the sudden memory of the last time stripped away all of her good feelings and replaced them with dred and pain. Subconsciously she grabbed hold of her pigtails and tugged as she spoke the words she didn’t want to say.

“I have to end things with Steven.” Mrs. Green was definitely taken by surprise by the sudden unhappy statement.

“What? Honey you were just saying how much you liked him why would you end it?” One of Spinel’s hands moved to clench and, unseen by Mrs. Green, start to scratch at a spot on her chest right where her sternum bone was while her other hand still tugged on her pigtail.

“I won't get hurt again.” She said it so quietly Mrs. Green almost missed it. She fixed a soft reassuring smile to her face and lightly took Spinel’s hand from her chest to hold in hers. 

“Darling whoever it is you’re thinking about right now, Steven is nothing like them and will never be. I’ll let you in on a secret only some of the people in Beach City know. Although he will never let anyone see it on purpose, Steven has been hurt too. Badly. He’s no stranger to pain and because he knows that pain, even if it’s not the same as yours, he will do everything in his power to keep any and all pain away from those he cares about. That boy has the biggest heart I have ever seen and from what I saw I’d bet my life on it that he’s already fallen for your charm.” Spinel’s grip on her hair loosened as she listened to Mrs. Green’s words feeling just the smallest sliver of hope trying to push away the doubt. 

“Give him a chance, he won’t disappoint.” Spinel gave a half assed smile but agreed. Mrs. Green held out her arms offering Spinel a hug to which she reluctantly leaned into. She smelled of rum cake and lilac and she was so warm, and Spinel felt safe. Spinel pulled away and gave her a smile.

“We should get to bed.” Mrs. Green hopped off the stool and dusted out her dress before running a hand through one of Spinel pigtails smiling. 

“You know the girls and I love your hair. If you want to, I'd be willing to style it for you. Just a thought. Sweet dreams Spinel.” Spinel touched where Mrs. Green just had and returned the nightly saying before also getting up to head to bed. She remembered to wash her face and take her hair ties out this time before crawling into bed. Her phone pinging was the only thing keeping her from falling asleep on the spot. She squinted looking at the bright screen reading the new message.

“My jacket smells like you. Lol. Is that weird?” Spinel chuckled as she replied.

“Yes weirdo. Lol. Why are you still up?”

“I thought you’d get a kick out of that. I seriously thought you were in my room for a second.” 

“Wtf? Isn’t your room on the second floor? And on a raised platform? What did I fly up there?” 

“Lol. Give me a break I'm tired and I wasn't thinking straight. And you do realize I can right.” 

“What? Think straight? No I didn’t, but I hoped you could.” 

“Noooo fly.” 

“...! You can FLY!?!?!?!?!? And you’re just telling me this now! Why the fuck do you drive if you can fly?!”

“Because it’s tiring. Lol”

“Lame! Oh Shit! You know what I just thought of?”

“I’m afraid to ask.”

“I’ve never done it in the air before. (smiling devil emoji)” 

“...” 

“You’re bright red right now aren't you?” 

“... No!” 

“Lol you so are! Send me a picture I need a contact pic for you anyway.”

“Absolutely not!” 

“Come on! It’s not like I’m asking for nudes. I’ll send you one in exchange. Promise I’ll have most of my clothes on. (Winky face emoji)”

“Spinel!” 

“Steven!” 

“If I send you one will you stop being a pervert? Lol” 

“Maybe for the night but I make no promises for any other day.” 

“... Fine. Hold on.” Spinel waited patiently watching her screen. The photo appeared and showed that Steven was definitely blushing, he laid on his back head turned to the side to look at the camera looking very tired but a small smile still covered his lips. There was a dim pink light highlighting his features but not the rest of the room. Spinel lifted the phone above her head and smiled as she snapped her picture.

“You look so cute! <3 But what’s with the pink light?” Spinel asked after sending her photo.

“Oh that’s my gem. Too tired to be blinded by the flash so I made my gem glow it’s easier on my eyes. Also your hair looks so pretty down! (heart eyed emoji) Why don’t you wear it like that more often?” Steven answered finding himself studying her photo noticing what looked to be a scar almost in the shape of a heart on her chest. He had noticed it when they were swimming but it seemed old, so he didn’t want to bring it up at the time but now it had a fresher look to it. He was worried, however he decided asking someone about a scar was more a face to face type of conversation.

“It gets in the way when boarding or exercising so I keep it up. Don’t have the heart to cut it. You better show me some of these damn powers of yours on Saturday.” 

“Lol alright.”

“Get some sleep Universe. I’ll see you Saturday.” 

“You do the same Spinel. Good night. <3” 

“Night. (kissy face emoji)” Steven set his jacket at the end of his bed, plugged in his phone and smiled at the new message before falling into a blissful sleep. Spinel saved the photo to it’s contact not being able to stop the small blush forming when she looked at it. Maybe she could give him a chance like Mrs. Green had suggested, he definitely wasn’t like… she frowned as her mind spoke the name her mouth wouldn’t let out. She sighed glancing one last time at her new adorable boyfriend and let the smile return to her face before she switched off the phone, plugged it in, and let herself enter into dreamland.


	3. A Concert To Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spinel is going to her first Sadie Killer and the Suspects concert. She's excited, nervous, and doesn't know what to expect. However having Steven makes meeting his dad and his friends easier, and he encourages her step out of her comfort zone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me for the wait. I haven't been in a writing mood but I got back into the groove a little so I managed to get this one done. Enjoy guys!

Thursday 

7:40am Steven: “Good morning. Hope you have a good day, I’ll text you when I take a break. <3” 

9:00am Spinel: “I got to listen to Ella and Kimmy squeal when I told them I was going to see Sadie killer with you Saturday. I honestly don’t know if they were squealing because of the band or because I have a date. Is this what having sisters is like?”

1:30pm Steven: “LOL, couldn’t tell ya. Amethyst is the closest I have to a sister but she’s more like a big sis so she teases me rather than gets giddy.” 

Spinel: “How did it go last night?” 

Steven: “Could have been worse. They want to meet you though like Pearl said.” 

Spinel: “That’s fine. Is it just Pearl and Amethyst?” 

Steven: “No, Garnet too. Maybe my dad idk. But I wanna warn you Pearl might ask inappropriate questions. Even after thousands of years on earth and 16 years of raising me she still tends to not understand what’s okay and not.”

Spinel: “That’s fine I can deal.”  
“What cha doing now?”

Steven: “Eating lunch while the Gems in class take a test.” 

Spinel: “Why are you teaching a safety class?”

Steven: “Most of the Gems around Beach City have been corrupted or bubbled for thousands of years. Corrupted means messed up and not their conscience self and I guess bubbled could be considered sleeping. So they didn’t get to experience earth like my family so some of them wanted help understanding what things are dangerous and how to handle being around them so they don’t get cracked or shattered.” 

Spinel: “Ah. And you do that class with one of your moms, Garnet right?”

Steven: “Yep. We do this thing called fusion. It’s hard to explain over text or in the time I have but it turns us into someone different then ourselves A.K.A. Sunstone.” 

Spinel: “Okay none of that made sense but maybe you can show me sometime?” 

Steven: “LOL yeah that works. Actually because I’m half human I can fuse with other humans too. I’ve mainly only done it with my friend Connie but still.” 

Spinel: “That’s cool.”

Steven: “Oh by the way, My best friend Connie wants to meet you too when she gets back from space camp. I was telling her about your performance on the beach and she said she'd love to spar with you. If you’re up for it.” 

Spinel: “Spar? You're kidding right?” 

Steven: “Nope. Pearl used to train her in sword fighting and such but I do better fighting with her as a team than sparing against her. So she’d love to have someone more agile to spar with.”

Spinel: “She human?”

Steven: “Yep.” 

Spinel: “Sure. I wouldn’t mind that… though I’ve never used a sword before I do more hand to hand.” 

Steven: “That’s fine. I gotta head back. Want me to text you tonight?” 

Spinel: “Do whatever you want. The girls begged me to join the family for family movie night. We’re going to go see Frozen 2. Help me!”

Steven: “What’s wrong with Frozen?”

Spinel: “I’ve never been a Disney princess lover. We used to watch nothing but Disney at the orphanage. The girls want me to watch the first one tonight so we can go see the second tomorrow. Figure I’d humor them.” 

Steven: “You’ll like them they're not like most Disney Princess movies. Text me after let me know how you liked it. Ttyl.” 

Spinel: “Wait, you've already watched them? Why.”  
“Damn you left okay I’ll text you later.”

9:00pm Spinel: “What the hell did I just watch!” 

Steven: “I can’t tell if you like it or not? LOL”

Spinel: “How is that Disney Princess! That was not the Disney Princess I grew up with.”

Steven: “LOL See I told you!”

Spinel: “Like both Kimmy and Ella started signing the Let it go song and I was like what is going on! But her transformation and ice castle thing were cool. Mrs. Green laughed when the girls freaked me out with the song.” 

Steven: “Crap not that song is going to be in my head for a week. LOL. But yeah my favorite part is Olaf singing about summer.” 

Spinel: “I’m sorry I would have been Kristof in that situation.” 

Steven: “I can see that and I would be Anna telling you to shut up.”

Spinel: “LOL. I think when Anna helped fight the wolves and when she sucker punched Hans had to be my favorite. I’m actually kind of looking forward to the second now. Oh and Finally someone brings to light that you can’t marry a guy you just met! Omg I freaked out at that part.”

Steven: “But dating after just meeting is okay?”

Spinel: “Well yeah most couples start out like that, and dating is a LOT different then marriage.” 

Steven: “LOL true.” 

Spinel: “What’s your day going to look like tomorrow?” 

Steven: “More little homeschool stuff.”

Spinel: “That bites. But Ella had some of Sadie killer’s CDs and showed me some of their work. They’re good.”

Steven: “Awesome! You’ll love their shows even more, Dad helps them come up with the best skits.” 

Spinel: “Dad?”

Steven: “Yeah did I not tell you my Dad is their manager? I was there to help make their first song, I taped their first show and so on.”

Spinel: “Damn do you know like everyone?”

Steven: “Saving the world/ galaxy tends to make you a lot of friends.”   
“But I do have to wake up early tomorrow and have a lot to do, so I’m going to let you go. Have fun having LET IT GO stuck in your head all night.” 

Spinel: “Alright sleep tight Universe.” {Kissy face emoji)  
Steven: <3 <3 <3

Friday

11:30am Spinel: “Hey I know you said you were busy today but Mrs. Green wanted me to ask if you would like some lunch. She plans to make sandwiches and the kids want to go for a walk anyways.” 

11:50am Steven: “Yeah I’d love that!” 

Spinel read her new text message and gave an approving smile to the kids and Mrs.Green.

“Wonderful! I’ll finish the lunches while you four get ready.” The kids all scattered off but before Spinel could do the same Mrs. Green stopped her. 

“Spinel hun I was wondering if you’d be willing to look after the kids for a little bit. I could drop you all off at little homeworld and after visiting Steven you walk them back. It wouldn’t take too long to get back home. There’s just a few things I want to do around the house and not having the kids here would be a big help.” 

“I don’t mind if you’re really okay with it.” Mrs. Green smiled sweetly and patted Spinel’s head. 

“Of course dear. Ella will mostly keep to herself. You’ll have to keep a good eye on Lance, he tends to wonder. While Kimmy will most likely stay glued to your side the whole time. Just let me know when you’re on your way back.” Spinel agreed despite her nervousness, she’d babysat for other foster families before but mainly at the house she was in and most of the time the kids took care of themselves much like herself. So actually being responsible for these kids was a new experience that made her nervous. She gathered her shoes and bag before piling into the Green’s car to head towards Steven. Mrs. Green told the kids the plan and made sure they knew Spinel was in charge. The trip was short but Spinel made sure to keep track of the roads they took so she knew the way back. Steven met them in the center of little homeworld, Spinel noticed he looked tired or worn out but he was hiding it from Mrs. Green and the kids. Spinel and the kids climbed out with their lunches and Mrs. Green handed Steven his. 

“You kids be good and enjoy. I’ll see you all back at the house.” She said before putting the car in reverse and heading back the way they came. 

“Where’s she going?” Steven asked as he led them to some picnic tables where they could sit and eat.   
“Back to the house. She asked me to walk the kids back so she could do some things around the house.” 

“Are you going to be okay with that?” 

“Oh yeah I’ll be fine. But what about you? You don’t look so bright eyed and bushy tailed as usual.” 

“Yeah just a rough night sleeping. No biggie.” Spinel didn’t believe him but didn’t want to bring it up in front of the kids. Lance and Ella sat across from Steven, Spinel, and Kimmy. Kimmy was clinging to Spinel’s side as they ate. 

“Steven can I come with you guys to the concert?” Ella suddenly asked after they had finished eating. 

“Next time Ella. The venue is sixteen and up only.” Ella pouted but before she could begin winning Lance jumped up and ran to tackle someone approaching them from behind Steven and Spinel. They turned and Spinel was taken by surprise by the tall purplish-red skinned gem who didn’t miss a beat in picking Lance up and plopping him onto her squared shaped hair-do. 

“Oh Garnet what’s up?” 

“I had a vision that told me I’d find wielders of tiny hands this way.” Steven laughed as Lance attempted to steal Garnet’s visor. 

“Spinel this is Garnet, my other mom.” Spinel shook Garnet’s hand and smiled. 

“Nice to meet you.” She felt awkward because she hadn’t expected to meet another one of Steven’s family members today. She unconsciously pulled at her hair feeling like Garnet was looking into her mind or something since the visor covered her eyes. Steven noticed and placed a reassuring hand on her leg.

“So did you just come to get your dose of cuteness?” Steven teased the gem as Kimmy joined her brother in acting like Garnet was a jungle gym, choosing to hang from Garnet’s arm. 

“That and to tell you Bismuth and the others are ready to continue with the lesson.” Steven sighed. 

“Kind of figured that was the other reason. Sorry Spinel I gotta head back.” He said as he cleaned up his lunch and stood.

“That’s okay, I know you’re busy. Come on kids we should get going.” Lance and Kimmy both protested but listened as Kimmy jumped from Garnet’s arm and Lance was set back to the ground. 

“It was nice meeting you Spinel. I look forward to having you over for dinner.” Garnet said before she began to head back while Steven walked Spinel and the kids to the gates. Even with her no longer in sight Spinel could still feel Garnet’s eyes on her and it was giving her chills.

“Spinel? I asked if you’re going to be okay getting home?” Spinel had gotten lost in thinking about Garnet watching them and hadn’t heard Steven the first time.

“Huh? Oh… Yeah I’ll be fine. The house isn’t far and I was paying attention to the surroundings on the way here.” Spinel refocused her attention to Steven who she now noticed had a light blush dusting his cheeks. She gave him a smug smile.

“Whatcha thinking about that’s got you all flustered Universe?” Her asking only deepened his blush. 

“N-Nothing… Just wondering if um… if I can have a see ya later kiss.” She almost missed the last word because of Steven’s voice breaking into a whisper but she didn’t need to hear it to get the idea. She chuckled before catching him off guard and giving his jacket a light tug pulling him closer so she could plant a small but firm kiss on his lips. The sound of Lance ewing them was about the only thing to draw them apart. The kiss left Steven with a slightly red face and Spinel wearing a cheshire like grin. 

“I’ll text you later?” She said not missing a beat as she began leading two squealing girls and a gaging boy back home. Steven stood there and waved, still blushing like made. 

“Yeah. Be careful.” Steven watched them until they were out of sight. 

“She seems nice.” Garnet’s sudden voice made him jump despite having the suspicion she was nearby. Steven smiled more to himself before turning to head back to class.

“Yeah she is.” he answered without looking at her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday

“Spinnnneeeellll! Please! Please! Please! I would kill to go see them. Please I’ll be on my best behavior, you won’t even know I’m there.” Spinel rolled her eyes as she stood in front of her bathroom mirror finishing off her makeup. 

“Ella it’s not up to me. I’d take you if I could but as soon as we get to the venue you wouldn’t be let in.” 

“You don’t know that.” Spinel sighed.

“Tell you what, Steven knows the band members, how about I see if I can get you a signed shirt or something that way the next time they play someplace you can go you have something cool to wear to it.” Ella went quiet for a few minutes thinking Spinel’s proposal over before she smiled and stuck out her hand.

“Deal but I want to add something to it.”

“And what’s that?” 

“You still have some time before Steven gets here. Right?” Spinel nodded.

“Then you have to let us do your hair. It doesn’t go well with your outfit.” Spinel smiled and shook Ella’s hand.

“You’re going to rule the world one day with tactics like those.” They laughed and headed up the stairs where Mrs.Green and Kimmy were already waiting with hair ties and brushes. The doorbell rang after a half hour had passed, Kimmy managed to be the first to the door. Steven stood in the doorway with a big grin wearing blue jeans, his pink jacket and a black t-shirt with a big yellow star in the center. 

“Hi Steven!” Kimmy shouted, giving him a big hug. She led him into the kitchen where Spinel sat in a chair as Mrs. Green finished tying the last loop of her hair tie. 

“Hello Steven. You look handsome tonight.” Steven blushed.

“Thanks Mrs. Green.” Spinel got off of the chair and turned to Steven. She wore a short sleeve solid black top, a dark pink plaid skirt, with a metal heart chain belt, fishnet socks held up by thigh garter straps that had a metal heart ring in the center, and tall boots with heart straps. A simple red glass heart pendant hung around her neck, her long redish pink hair was no longer in their usual pigtails but instead hung down her shoulders in two lovely braids tied off with pink bows. Steven starred in awe at how cool and beautiful she looked.

“Wow you definitely look ready to rock out.” Spinel chuckled.

“I haven’t gotten to wear this in a while, happy I get a chance.” Spinel grabbed her bag, a small leather drawstring bag with stars and hearts all over it. 

“Have fun you two and be careful.” Mrs. Green said as they headed out the door.

“Spinel! Don’t forget our deal!” Spinel laughed as Ella yelled out the door as they climbed into Steven’s car. 

“I won’t!” Spinel yelled back as they drove off. 

“Deal?” Steven asked after a few minutes driving.

“I promised I’d get her a signed shirt to wear to their next age appropriate concert. It was the only way I could get her to stop begging for me to sneak her in.” Steven laughed. 

“Well that won’t be hard. My dad sells the merch so I can get her one.” 

“Had a feeling you’d say that but didn’t want to ask. Thank you though. Um… Will your dad be at the show?” 

“Yeah is that cool? He’s pretty chill, I know the gems can be a bit much, but he’s not like that.” Spinel sighed, Steven had the largest family of any guy she’d ever dated before and already she’d met a good majority of them. She pulled out a cigarette, rolled down the window, lit it before she spoke again.

“Don’t really have a choice, I do want to see this band with you.” Her tone was chipper so Steven knew she wasn’t really upset about it. He turned on one of Sadie killer’s tapes and they drove the rest of the way without talking as they both listened to the music. The venue was just outside of the boardwalk and the Green’s neighborhood so It didn’t take them too long to get there. It wasn’t anything too fancy but there was a crowd, and a line. Steven parked and they walked up to the door where the bouncer stopped them.

“Woah you two. Firstly there’s a line. Secondly you need tickets and ID’s ready.” They both pulled out their ID cards.

“Here are our cards and I should be on your list. She’s my plus one.” The bouncer looked at their ID’s but didn’t bother to look at his list.

“No ticket, no entry.” Steven didn’t seem mad.

“Please look at your list. My dad is Mr. Universe, the band’s manager.” The man sighed and looked at the clipboard in his hand. 

“Oh shit, sorry sir, um go right on in.” Steven smiled.

“You’re doing your job, no big deal. Keep up the good work.” He said as he led Spinel inside the already packed building. Spinel laughed once they got inside.

“What’s so funny?” Steven asked as he led her to a booth with a sign reading ‘Reserved for Universe’, where they sat. 

“Nothing. It’s just you are so damn nice. I know lots of people who would have thrown a fit because of that.” Steven shrugged.

“What’s the point of doing that? He was just doing his job and getting mad would have just made him mad and ended with more problems then something so silly deserves.” Spinel laughed again, leaning closer to Steven to give him a very passionate kiss. Steven was very surprised by the sudden kiss but had no problem returning it just as passionately. Spinel was very disappointed when Steven broke the kiss after a few minutes. But the bright red color on his face made her smile. She let out a small chuckle placing a small kiss on his lips before sitting back in the booth. They ordered some food and Spinel convinced Steven to get a Shirley temple with her, which he loved. Soon an older man came over to the booth.

“Schtu-ball! You made it!” Steven made his way out of the booth to go and hug the man. 

“Don’t I always dad.” Spinel got out of the booth to greet the man. 

“Dad I want you to meet… my girlfriend, Spinel. Spinel this is my dad.” Spinel had to stop herself from laughing at how red Steven was turning from just calling her his girlfriend. Instead she held out a hand and shook Steven’s dad’s hand. 

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Universe.” 

“Likewise Spinel. Glad you could come tonight. But please call me Greg.” 

“Glad to be here. I’ve heard some of the band’s work, I really like them so I can’t wait to hear them live. And from what I’ve heard they put on the best shows.” Their food arrived and Steven’s dad was pulled away by someone asking about a fog machine. Steven and Spinel sat, eating and chatting while they waited for the show to start.

“So have you ever sang with them?” Spinel suddenly asked as she munched on some chips. 

“Oh yeah plenty of times.” Spinel laughed. 

“That must be fun.” 

“Yeah! Do you play anything?” 

“I don’t play any instrument and the only singing I’ve ever done is in the shower.” 

“You sing?” 

“Somewhat. My ex liked my singing but I haven’t really sung since other than in the shower.” Before Steven could say anything else his dad came out on stage and introduced the band so they joined the crowd on the floor. They danced and listened to the music until the band took a break.

“I’m going to head outside for a bit.” Spinel told Steven as she headed towards the door, but Steven hadn’t heard her over the filler music. As she was heading towards the door Steven noticed her and ran after her. He found her outside behind the building with a cigarette in one hand and her phone in the other. He was about to go join her when someone called out to her.

“Spinel? Spinel Heartstring is that you?” Spinel looked up and Steven saw the color leave her face and a fake smile cover her lips.

“Tasha… It’s been a while. What are you doing here?” 

“Came to see a sick band. What about you?” 

“Same.” Spinel’s laugh sounded just as fake as her smile but Tasha didn’t seem to notice as she took the cigarette from Spinel and started smoking it. 

“How’d you get all the way out here last time I saw you was in Troit?” 

“I could ask you the same. Well Johnny and I ran from our last home. Ass holes tried to have us committed, for being together.” 

“What? Why?” 

“Idiots thought we were actual brother and sister. Like seriously how stupid could you be? Now you.” 

“Case worker gave me a new home. Nothing special.” The girl flicked the cigarette to the ground. 

“You’re pretty dressed up for a show ain’t ya?” Spinel stayed quiet, she looked very uncomfortable. 

“Have you called them since you moved?” Spinel started fidgeting with her hair.

“I’ll take that as a no.” 

“Didn’t you hear. We broke up. I don’t gotta report to them anymore. They don’t care, made that really fucking clear.” Tasha smiled.

“You know the rules, Spins. Don’t matter if y’all broke up.” 

“Whatever. I’m done with all of that. I’ve got a good deal going for me now.” Tasha laughed.

“Done? Really? That’s great Spins. Good for you.” Tasha turned on her heel and started walking away. 

“Enjoy your night Spins.” She walked out of sight and Spinel sighed heavily and slid down to sit on the ground.

“Hey?” Steven said walking up next to her.

“You okay?” Spinel looked up at him.

“How long were you spying on me?” 

“Long enough to have questions. But also long enough to know now is not the time to ask them. Unless you want to talk about it.” Spinel shook her head and held her hands out for help getting up. Steven lifted her to her feet and she embraced him in a hug. 

“Thanks.” She said leaning back against the wall and lighting a new cigarette. Steven leaned against the wall next to her. 

“My dad said they have an open slot on the playlist tonight, asked me if I wanted to sing.” 

“That would be cool.” 

“I think you should do it.” Spinel choked on some smoke and coughed. 

“What? No! I told you I only sing in the shower. Besides you don’t even know if I’m any good. I don’t want to ruin the show.” 

“Doesn’t matter. There’s no way you could ruin the show, and I’m sure you sound great.”

“Not gonna happen Universe.” 

“If you’re nervous we could do a duet.” 

“No!” Steven turned to look into Spinel’s eyes.

“Look you said you used to sing for your ex right? Because of that you have bad memories associated with singing, am I wrong?” 

“No.” 

“So come sing for yourself. Give yourself new memories, better ones. I’m not going to force you but I think you would be amazing. Either way the opening is in fifteen minutes.” Steven leaned in and gave Spinel a small kiss before heading back inside. Spinel laughed when he was out of sight, she laughed so hard that her eyes started tearing up. After she snuffed out her cigarette and walked inside to find Steven backstage with the band. He smiled when he saw her.

“One song and only one.” She stated picking up a mic.

“Just one. Do you know the one you want?” Spinel nodded and held out her phone.

“I’ll take that. Glad to have you, Spinel right?” A tall boy who had platinum blonde hair and was dressed in baggy pants and a t-shirt covered in fake blood took a look at her phone.

“Oh that’s a sick song. I’ll go set everything up on stage, meet you guys out there.”

“Cool thanks Sour Cream.” A shorter girl said as she joined Steven and Spinel. 

“Hey there nice to meet you I’m-”

“Sadie, Sadie killer right.” Spinel jumped in shaking her hand.

“Killer is my stage name but yeah I’m Sadie. Steven’s told us a bit about you. It’s nice to finally meet you. Oh and Steven said you wanted one of these.” She held out a small shirt with white autographs all over it. Spinel took it with a smile.

“Wow thank you so much. Ella is going to love this.” Sadie chuckled and introduced her to the rest of the band before they all joined Sour Cream on stage. Steven decided since he didn’t know the song and wasn’t needed he’d go enjoy the show from off stage. The other band members luckily already knew the song Spinel wanted and were more than happy to be playing it. Buck joined Sour Cream on stage but Sadie and Jenny pulled Spinel off to the side. 

“Would you mind if we changed up your look Spinel? You know to fit the style of the band?” Spinel thought for a moment.

“What did you have in mind?” She smiled and Jenny helped her undo her braids while Sadie grabbed some make up. After they were all satisfied with her new look they joined the guys on stage. They all got into position as Mr. Universe’s voice came over the speakers announcing a guest singer and Sour Cream counted them down to the curtain opening. He started with the keyboard. The familiar sound brought peace to Spinel’s rapid breath and the sight of a very excited and happy Steven sitting front and center calmed her rapidly beating heart as she began to sway to the music and sing. 

Steven was taken aback when the curtains lifted and showed Spinel had changed her look. Her previously smooth braids had been taken out and two ratted out pigtails sat high on either side of her head. She wore dark pink eye-shadow, dark blood colored lipstick and traveling from her eyes down her cheeks were solid black tear streaks. She fit in perfectly with the band and he couldn’t tear his eyes away as she began to sing. 

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRyhgTKms04 ) Song

“Sick of all these people talking, sick of all this noise  
Tired of all these cameras flashing, sick of being poised  
Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it  
Already choking on my pride, so there's no use crying about it

I'm headed straight for the castle  
They wanna make me their queen  
And there's an old man sitting on the throne  
That's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean  
I'm headed straight for the castle  
They've got the kingdom locked up  
And there's an old man sitting on the throne  
That's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut  
Straight for the castle

Oh, all these minutes passing, sick of feeling used  
If you wanna break these walls down, you're gonna get bruised  
Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it  
Already choking on my pride, so there's no use crying about it

I'm headed straight for the castle  
They wanna make me their queen  
And there's an old man sitting on the throne  
That's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean  
I'm headed straight for the castle  
They've got the kingdom locked up  
And there's an old man sitting on the throne  
That's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut  
Straight for the castle

There's no use crying about it  
There's no use crying about it  
There's no use crying about it  
There's no use crying about it  
I'm headed straight for the castle  
They wanna make me their queen  
And there's an old man sitting on the throne  
That's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean  
I'm headed straight for the castle  
They've got the kingdom locked up  
And there's an old man sitting on the throne  
That's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut  
Straight for the castle

They wanna make me their queen  
And there's an old man sitting on the throne  
That's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean  
I'm headed straight for the castle  
They've got the kingdom locked up  
And there's an old man sitting on the throne  
That's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut  
Straight for the castle.” The crowd managed to make Spinel jump when they suddenly started to cheer. Spinel ran a hand under her eyes realising she had started crying at some point during the song. Sadie walked over to the microphone and smiled.

“Let’s hear it for our new friend Spinel!” The crowd cheered again as Spinel waved at them and walked off to the back while Sadie started singing a new song to the crowd. Steven was waiting for her when she exited, but his dad got to her before he could. 

“That was awesome Spinel. I’m sure the others will agree when I say you can sing with them any time you want.” Spinel blushed.

“Thank you Mr… Greg.” Spinel sent a pleading look over to Steven who thankfully got the message and stepped in before his dad could continue. 

“I think we’re going to head back to the booth now dad. I’ll come see you tomorrow, sound good?” 

“Sure thing Schtu-ball. It was nice to meet you Spinel.” Spinel unconsciously latched on to Steven’s arm and let him lead her to the booth. Her heart was so loud she couldn’t hear the band, she sat in the booth and was dazed. 

“You okay?” 

“Yeah just taking in the fact that I just did that.” She said taking a drink from Steven’s pop. Steven smiled lovingly at her, which only made her blush.

“What?” 

“You were amazing.” She playfully punched his arm.

“Shut up.” 

“I’m serious! You were so confident and cool, not to mention how beautiful you look.” Spinel laughed, trying to hide her blush.

“I have make-up streaked down my face and my hair's a mess.”

“Okay so scary beautiful.” Spinel laughed even more. 

“Universe you are just…” Spinel grabbed Steven’s shirt and pulled him into a deep kiss. Steven broke the kiss feeling embarrassed that his dad was just around the corner. Spinel seem to have read his mind because she resisted kissing him again. Instead she leaned into his embrace and whispered in his ear.

“Wanna get out of here?” Steven blushed a million shades of pink and red but nodded anyway. Steven’s brain went on auto-pilot as they said their good-byes to his dad, headed to the car, left and started driving to where Steven didn’t know. 

“So… Um… Am I taking you home?” Steven finally asked after 10 or so minutes of driving. 

“You don’t have to. Mrs. Green said I could stay out past curfew as long as I texted. Got any cool places we could go check out?” Steven thought for a few moments as he drove.

“I can think of a few buuuuuttttt…”

“What?” 

“We’d have to go to the temple to get to any of them, or Little Homeworld.” 

“What are the chances of running into your family at either?” 

“More likely if we go to the temple but still very likely to meet my extended family by going to Little Homeworld. If you’re okay with risking it, it would be worth it.” Spinel mauled over the options, neither sounded great but she could tell Steven really wanted to take her to wherever he was thinking. 

“Alright I can handle it, though I hope they don’t hold my make-up against me, forgot to clean up backstage.” 

“The won’t. Alright off we go then.” Steven turned at the next light and Spinel’s heart fell into her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so instead of racking my brain for where I want them to go I decided to have fun and let you all decide! There are two things that need a vote.   
> 1.) Are they going to try the LH warp pad and run into Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis. OR are they going to try the temple and meet the gems.   
> 2.) I've narrowed it down to three possible places they could go. A.) Rose's Fountain B.) Strawberry fields C.) Mask Island   
> Now PLEASE DO NOT WRITE YOUR VOTES IN THE COMMENTS! If you would like to vote please visit my tumblr https://starsandheartsforever.tumblr.com/ and cast your votes on the link. Please and thank you!


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